High school basketball referee Charlie Oberhausen was left on the sidelines of life after suffering a tendon injury in his foot while officiating a basketball game.

"I gained a lot of weight because I couldn't do anything — couldn't run, couldn't walk," said Oberhausen, 63, of Fisherville.

But he's rebounded since enrolling in Personalized Orthopedic Weight Reduction or POWR, a weight-loss program that combines physical therapy with healthy eating. He credits the program, offered by KORT (the Kentucky Orthopedic Rehab Team), with helping him to drop down to 186 pounds, from a starting weight of nearly 250 pounds.

"The program teaches you portion control and what foods are good for you and what foods aren't good for you — which ones to stay away from," Oberhausen said. "I haven't had a hamburger in over a year."

The program is for people who have an orthopedic condition and a secondary health problem, such as diabetes or high cholesterol. Participants receive a customized dietary program, health-and-fitness counseling and coaching from a physical therapist. They also do regular weigh-ins, adhere to a point system for foods, and fill out food charts to help them stay on track.

POWR is about "helping people to really eat the way that we're suppose to eat," said program director Emily Green, who directs the newly opened KORT Summit Wellness Clinic.

That includes consuming more fruits, vegetables and beans and eating healthy amounts of nuts, low-fat dairy products, lean meats and some whole grains. "It really is trying to create a healthy lifestyle," she said.

Along with nutrition advice, participants receive help with orthopedic issues, such as back or knee pain. "It's weight loss, but it's also a skilled orthopedic wellness program to get them moving safely" by teaching them the right exercises to do without getting injured or having a heart attack, Green said.

POWR is offered at several KORT locations, including the English Station clinic, where Oberhausen participated. KORT started the weight-loss program, modeled after one in Florida, at that clinic in 2010.

Oberhausen signed up in February 2013 and reached his goal weight of 195 pounds in August 2013. He said the program helped him get back to basketball officiating —— "something I thought I wouldn't be able to do again."

Such successes warm the heart of Green, who's seen POWR participants achieve other personal goals, such as participating in a 5K for the first time and being able to hike with their grandchildren. Oberhausen recently rode in the Mayor's Healthy Hometown Subway Fresh Fit Hike, Bike & Paddle.

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Charlie Oberhausen demonstrates some of the workouts that he did with physical therapist Emily Green. Oberhausen was treating a ruptured tendon and was introduced to the POWR program and was able to lose 65lbs.
June 10, 2014(Photo: The Courier-Journal)

"These people really do get their life back," Green said. "They're able to start moving again. Their pain is better. They're healthier."

An overall success rate for the program was unavailable. But last year, there were 45 POWR clients at English Station, and the average weight loss was 13.8 pounds, KORT said. Seventeen clients at that location lost more than 25 pounds and two lost more than 50 pounds.

The program encourages gradual weight loss of a half a pound to two pounds per week, shooting for a 10 percent reduction in body weight. "We don't want a big yo-yo diet where they lose really fast, " Green said.

Participants receive a binder chock-full of information, and supplemental handouts. They circle foods that are not so healthy for them, such as sugary beverages, fast-food items and desserts. If they have an occasional unhealthy item, "that's OK. We all do," Green said, but it's important to be aware of how often you're consuming those.

Not everyone is successful in the program. But Green's client Jennie Bowman said she lost more than 100 pounds over the course of a year in the program.

"I was at that desperate point where I needed a change; I wanted a change," said Bowman, who scaled down from 271 pounds to 151 pounds. Her current weight is about 160, she said, noting that she's trying to get a thyroid issue under control.

Prior to the program, Bowman said she ate "whatever," but POWR "breaks it down and shows you what you should be doing (which) makes it so much easier to understand."

The point system becomes second nature and — for Bowman — unhealthy food became less appealing, she said. "You're kind of repelled by that food; you don't desire it at all."

Physical therapy during the program helped to strengthen Bowman's back, which allowed her to do more fitness walking, she said.

Walking also was a big part of Oberhausen's success in addition to changing the way he ate and getting 12 weeks of physical therapy for the tendon injury in his foot.

He said he feels better, and "I'm off of all my medication now. I take no cholesterol medicine. I take no blood pressure medicine. I take nothing other than some ibuprofen every once in a while."

Reporter Darla Carter can be reached at (502) 582-7068 or on Twitter @PrimeDarla.

SLIMMING DOWN

To learn more about the KORT POWR program, call (800) 645-5678, or call the KORT Summit Wellness Clinic at (502) 420-0823.